Valid Confession?

[Ziggamafu]

Went to confession yesterday. The priest didn’t begin with the sign of the cross or “in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit”. He also told me that my practice of going to weekly confession was too excessive and that I should only go once a month. Was it still valid?

 

[slinky1882]

Were you given absolution in the

“God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” ???

If the priest said this prayer and you made a good confession, the absolution of the Sacrament of Penance should have been valid. Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks and God Bless.

 

[atsheeran]

slinky1882:

Were you given absolution in the

“God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” ???

If the priest said this prayer and you made a good confession, the absolution of the Sacrament of Penance should have been valid. Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks and God Bless.

The essential part of this formula, according to the Rite or Penance, is:

“I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

This is the portion that is necessary for validity. It is unclear to me how much deviation from this essential form will compromise validity, but we can be sure that this is sufficient.

 

[Scott_Waddell]

My guess is with the others that this falls into the classic “valid but not licit” category. In other words, you are absolved, but the priest may have something to personally answer for.

Scott

 

[turboEDvo]

Well, that’s a bit shady that he told you not to come more than once a month. I’d find a different priest to confess to. And, as was said above, did you receive absolution from the priest? Not exactly sure about how validity is affected if he didn’t, I have never heard anything about the issue before. The “Ask an Apologist” section might to cover this one. Try asking there as well (I’d be interested to see the response)

Eamon

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

You are the best judge of the need for frequent Confession. Keeping in mind that venial sins are forgiven in other ways including Mass, receiving Holy Communion, Act of Contrition, other prayers and acts.

You need to reflect on the question: Do you really commit Mortal sin every week? if so then some additional Spiritual Direction may be necessary as well as weekly Confession.

There is nothing wrong with going to Confession with only venial sins to receive the Grace of the Sacrament when you have not been to Confession for a month or so, or won’t have access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation for several months or before receiving the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

 

[JimG]

Why wouldn’t it be valid?

There was nothing in what you wrote to indicate that the confession was not valid.